US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was interviewed by Fox News’ Chris Wallace on Afghanistan and Iran. In his statements regarding Iran, Gates shifted his statements, perhaps reflecting a change in the Pentagon’s view of the growing Iranian nuclear threat.

“Actually, what we’ve seen is a change in the nature of the regime in Tehran over the past 18 months or so. You have — you have a much narrower based government in Tehran now. Many of the religious figures are being set aside. As Secretary Clinton has said, they appear to be moving more in the direction of a military dictatorship. Khamenei is leaning on a smaller and smaller group of advisors. In the meantime, you have an illegitimate election that has divided the country. So I think adding economic pressures on top of that, and particularly targeted economic pressures, has real potential.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)